Chapter 47

LLOYD

“Do you have extra clothes?” I asked when we got to the minivan, though Harris was already ahead of me, pulling a T-shirt from the trunk and handing it to Misty.

Tanner’s gaze fixed on Misty’s bloodied backside. “Yeah, and I’ve got a first aid kit, and hopefully Adam hasn’t used everything to patch up Sully,” he said. “Oh, damn. Your neck looks sore too. I’ve got some ointment for that, Luna,” he offered.

“The bullet’s still in there,” Misty muttered, clearly annoyed and ignoring the title. “Put me down, Lloyd, please.”

I reluctantly set her on her feet and helped her into the T-shirt, tearing the neckline so it wouldn’t chafe her neck. It hung down to her knees, and I was oddly relieved she was covered.

Tanner handed me the ointment, but my hands weren’t clean, and I hesitated to touch her neck. Misty snatched it from my hand and spread it over her fingertips, sighing in relief. Goddess, her fingers were burned too.

“I don’t think you should touch your neck. Let’s get a bandage,” I suggested.

“No,” Harris said. “That’s too raw. A bandage will stick to it. You’ll have to wait till Cammy heals you a bit.”

She nodded and then watched me get dressed, a cheeky grin on her face when I struggled to pull up a pair of jeans that refused to zip.

“You got anything bigger?” I asked Harris, feeling the tightness pinch.

Tanner chuckled, rummaging through the trunk until he found a pair of sweatpants. I quickly changed, only to discover they reached mid-calf.

I caught the disguised smirks on everyone’s faces and rolled my eyes, but secretly, I loved the camaraderie, something I hadn’t had in so long.

“Sully? Okay?” I asked.

“I’ll live,” he replied and got into the car.

“You can sit up front,” I told Harris, waiting for Misty to climb in.

She grimaced. “How am I supposed to sit like this?”

“Lie across the bench with your head on my lap,” I suggested. It was awkward, and I knew she was in pain, but there wasn’t much I could do while she had wolfsbane running through her system.

I caressed her head, sifting her hair and removing twigs and leaves.

Tanner scanned the trees and walked a few paces down the road. “Trent, Adam, scope out the area and see where this road goes. I have a feeling it’s a dead end,” he ordered.

Adam and Trent shifted and loped down the road while we waited.

“Did you see any other roads when you jumped off the roof?” Harris asked Misty.

Goddess, she jumped off the roof? She could have been seriously injured in the rocky terrain. While I was furious with her for taking such chances, I also admired her daring.

“I don’t know. I ran to the closest edge and jumped,” Misty said airily, waving a hand.

Rubbing her arm, I asked, “How did you escape?”

“I managed to get the collar off using the pocketknife…”

“He didn’t search you?” Tanner asked.

“Nope. He locked me in the basement, but I improvised, tucking my hoodie under the collar. I used my pocketknife to jimmy the clasp open and then waited on the landing,” she explained before tilting her head back to look at me with a sly smile. “A little trick I picked up from you.”

I bent down and kissed her forehead lovingly, but I knew she was editing.

“When Axel opened the door, I stuck my claws into his gut, er, quite low down, and managed to push him down the stairs and lock the basement. I was expecting Egon to come running, but he wasn’t around, and I didn’t wait to check and bolted to the roof.”

“Wow, Misty, impressive,” Harris said. “And all with no magic…”

Her face fell, and I could see that losing her ability was nothing short of cruel. “Did you gain my witchy powers?” she asked.

“I don’t think so, but when Monolith was attacked, I ran after David and was out of the circle without realizing it,” I explained. I kept the rest to myself—especially the alpha king part.

“What? Monolith was attacked?” Misty asked, trying to sit up.

Damn it! “Don’t worry, your mom is fine,” I reassured her quickly.

Her eyes darted to Harris. “Dad?”

“Your mother’s fine, and so is Chelsea,” Harris confirmed. “I wouldn’t even know the details if your mother hadn’t told me.” He shot me a questioning look.

“Same here. Chelsea filled me in, and she’s okay now,” he said, his voice trembling slightly—I could tell he wasn’t thrilled that she had joined the fight. “Thanks to Lloyd,” he added under his breath.

“Crap,” Sully said. “When did this happen?”

“Earlier today.” It was hard to believe it had only been hours ago. It felt like days had passed since then, each moment stretching out with the weight of everything that had happened.

The events of the day had blurred together, and now it was Axel’s turn, but I wished we could go home so I could tend to Misty properly.

She was quiet for a while before asking, “Do you think the curse broke when I marked you?”

“That’s exactly what happened,” I replied. “I checked the grimoire, and all the pages were blank—except for the reverse side of the first page.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “I should have put two and two together,” she said dismally. “The writing looked fainter, but I thought it was my imagination. Do you have it with you?”

“No, I didn’t bring it. But I read the curse several times, and it was clear: the spell Kiralah cast had an out—a way to break it. I wish we’d known sooner,” I said, my voice tinged with regret. “If we had, maybe all this bloodshed could have been avoided.”

Misty frowned. “It’s hard to believe something so simple could’ve saved us.” She waved her hand for emphasis. “I saw something was written on the reverse side and even tried to do a rubbing, but it didn’t work.”

“Strange that it didn’t show up like the rest,” I agreed. “The essence in you broke the spell in me.”

Misty reached out, taking my hand in hers. “I had an overwhelming urge to mark you. Are you sure you don’t have witchy powers now?”

“I don’t think so, but once you marked me, I felt incredibly powerful, and Vetus thinks our dominance was kept in check through the curse.”

Harris had turned back to face the windscreen, and I could tell he was a little uncomfortable, possibly because he now knew we’d mated, even though he must have seen my mark.

I realized at that moment that the human side of werewolves had evolved.

Misty was silent for a while, and I squeezed her hand, wishing I could pull her onto my lap. The bleeding had stopped, thankfully, but the bullet had to be removed, and all I wanted to do was order Tanner to drive us to a doctor.

“How did you find me?”

“Adam planted his phone in the helicopter when he opened the door,” I explained. “So we used his phone to track you.”

Misty smiled. “Clever. Axel told me he’d kill Adam if I didn’t put on the collar; he stabbed him after I did, the bastard.”

“It’s not your fault,” I consoled, caressing her head.

“Tanner, why did alphas bring their daughters to the palace when they knew what Axel was like?” she asked.

Tanner turned sideways, an unreadable expression on his face. “Meticulous records are kept of every death and birth. Axel prepared the guest list himself, and she-wolves who turned seventeen were added to the invites. It was mandatory to attend if you received an invite, and there were repercussions if you didn’t.”

Goddess, what type of a wolf did that? He planned everything in minute detail and for every eventuality. Unlike me, he was familiar with the inventions available, but money played a part in this—how else could he afford a helicopter?

I wasn’t up to speed on how much everything cost, and the first time Tanner took me to an eatery, I was dumbfounded by the price, but he laughed and said it was cheap.

Packs generally paid a tithe, but it wasn’t enough for a king to spend money lavishly unless things had changed.

Trent and Adam’s return broke the silence. I got out to let them slip in behind me.

“And?” Harris asked.

“We have to reverse. The road ends about a mile from here,” Trent confirmed.

Tanner reversed down the narrow road, the engine whining painfully as we gathered speed.

I wanted to catch Axel unawares, so he had no option but to fight. My father’s challenge to King Finn would now be completed when I challenged Axel.

I wasn’t prepared to become the alpha king. The very thought seemed impossible. How could I be expected to lead all the packs when I hadn’t even led one? The weight of such responsibility was staggering, almost crushing.

It wasn’t just the idea of the title that overwhelmed me—it was everything that came with it. The thought of living in the palace, a place that had been my prison, filled me with loathing.

Vetus interrupted my thoughts. ~“This is our destiny, Lloyd.”~

~“Maybe there’s a way around this…”~

I had an idea but hadn’t really thought it through yet. I needed time and wanted to discuss it with Misty.

“Adam? I’m sorry about what happened in the gallery,” Misty said, getting to her knees and facing him.

Adam grinned, leaned forward, and looked down his nose at her in mock seriousness, brandishing three fingers. “That’s three you owe me, kiddo.”

“Three? No-no, Lloyd saved you once, and so did I,” she countered.

“Twice,” Adam amended.

“Exactly. That’s what I said.”

I shot Adam a look, and he sat back and didn’t correct her further. I was the one to put them in danger in the first place.

“Why do I feel I missed out on a whole lot…,” she paused thoughtfully. “If Axel does a disappearing act, we can track his phone, right?”

“None of us know Axel’s number. It’s always been kept a secret, and he probably has more than one phone,” Tanner supplied.

“Ahh.” Misty nodded.

“My phone is new, and the battery should last another day or two,” Adam interjected.

Tanner made a U-turn, and Trent huffed in irritation. “Wait a minute,” he exclaimed, scanning the area. “Where the hell is their car? We should have seen it by now.”

There was dead silence while everyone looked around, but Trent was right: What had happened to the mercenaries’ car?

“Damn,” Tanner and Harris cursed simultaneously.

“There must’ve been a fifth guy,” Sully speculated, “waiting in the car for his crew.”

If that were the case, he’d likely warned Axel, and my anger went up a notch.

“Keep your eyes peeled. We’re not far away,” Tanner ordered. The van jerked into motion, but he kept the speed slow enough to spot the entrance.

We hadn’t even found the driveway when I heard it—a distant, rhythmic whooshing that grew louder by the second. The unmistakable sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air.

My instincts kicked in, and I leapt out of the moving vehicle, eyes fixed on the sky as the helicopter flew directly overhead, heading north.

“Fuck!” Misty cursed in frustration.

Axel linked me. ~“When you least expect it, I will end you and that little disrespectful bitch.”~

~“You can try, you cowardly piece of shit,”~ I shot back, my voice laced with venom. But his threat hung in the air, more than just empty words; I knew he meant every syllable.